The race is over, let's start the race

It was the day of the 2007 elections, but Tom Perriello was working to win votes for 2008. "Wherever people are suffering, we can do better," he said on November 6 to a group of 25 seniors in the back of the Pantops Ponderosa. In between campaigning for State Senate candidate Connie Brennan, he was explaining the philosophy that has commanded him throughout his international work. Many in the room wore stickers saying they had already voted. If Perriello is fortunate, they will be voting for him this time next year as he tries to unseat Virgil Goode.

He’s young, reasonably attractive and a Yale grad who can’t stop talking about foreign tragedies like the Sudan. But can Tom Perriello, left, beat U.S. Representative Virgil Goode in the Southside of Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District?

At only 33 years of age, Tom Perriello has an impressive resumé. He went to Yale Law, has helped start eight nonprofits, and worked in Afghanistan, Sierra Leone and the Sudan to resolve crises there. He also wants Virginia’s Fifth District congressional seat, which Goode has held for 11 years. In the last two elections, Democrat Al Weed has unsuccessfully challenged Goode, a candidate with strong support in the south of the oddly shaped district that is the size of New Jersey.

Perriello must first tie up the Democratic nomination, to be decided next May. Currently, two others—David Shreve and Brydon Jackson—have declared their interests in running against Goode. But Perriello is off to a fast start, having raised over $100,000 in the third quarter of 2007. Most of that has been done through small, personal meetings like the one at Ponderosa, where Perriello’s earnest world experience translates to a political message of change with a sprig of hope.

"As I come back to the United States I’m struck increasingly that what’s wrong in the United States goes much deeper than the fact that our health care system is broken or people in the Southside are losing jobs," he said, stopping to clarify that those jobs are in fact important. He then moved on to his larger point. "There’s a deeper sense in the United States that we’ve lost a sense of the common good," he said, "a sense that we’re in this together."

With that, he delivered what seems to be his main contention, that American society has lost its sense of commitment to one another, and that to make real change—the kind that is invoked over and over—we must all band together. It is a positive message ultimately, not unlike Barack Obama’s, and while it will undoubtedly play to an affluent, activist community like Charlottesville, it will be interesting to see its effects in the Southside, where Goode’s constant appeals to a fear of illegal immigration seem to have worked.

Compared to candidates in other races, of course, Perriello is late to the game. Presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have made recent stops in Charlottesville, to fundraise and perhaps to try and win over Virginia to the Democratic column for the first time since 1964. And while Perriello’s $100,000 is impressive, former governor Mark Warner was able to pull in over $1 million in less than a month for his bid for the U.S. Senate seat to be vacated by John Warner. Although another former governor, Jim Gilmore, is likely to seek the Republican nomination, a recent Washington Post poll showed Warner with a 30 percent lead over several possible challengers.

Residents of Albemarle County can take pause and reflect on last week’s local elections…but not for too long. As Keith Drake, chair of the county Republican Party, reminded weary supporters at Club Rivals as the election night party was winding down: "There are 364 days left before election day."

A local real estate developer is now one of the top election officials in Virginia. Clara Belle Wheeler was approved by the General Assembly last week as the newest member of the State Board of Elections, which oversees the work of local electoral boards and registrars. Wheeler, a Republican

After nearly seven years on the market, Seven Oaks, the Greenwood estate owned by Dave Matthews Band manager, MusicToday founder and real estate tycoon Coran Capshaw sold October 31 for $5.5 million. The 100-acre historic estate was listed for $12.5 million when it went on the market in 2008.

Wes Bellamy lost to Bob Fenwick in the 2013 Democratic primary for Charlottesville City Council by five votes—a frustratingly small margin, he said. But now, as the 28-year-old teacher and youth mentor launches his second bid for a Council seat, he’s glad he didn’t win last time around. A lot

The man accused of killing a mother and daughter in their Rugby Avenue home before torching it was in court February 19 for a preliminary hearing for the murder of Robin Aldridge. Gene Everett Washington, 30, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Robin, 58, and her

Last week, C-VILLE revisited the case of Robert Davis, who after five hours of interrogation by Albemarle County detectives in 2003 admitted to killing Crozet mom Nola Charles and her toddler son. He has since maintained his innocence, and the two siblings who initially told police Davis was

The 2015 General Assembly session is in its final sprint, with talk of both houses agreeing to a budget and voting on it one day before the session ends February 27—a nearly unprecedented rapprochement. Contributing to the speedy resolution was taking Medicaid expansion off the table, despite

Dominion has announced that it is exploring several alternative routes for its planned Atlantic Coast Pipeline through Nelson County. The 550-mile natural gas pipeline, which the company hopes to have online by the end of 2018, would be routed through West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina,

How do you get teens to talk about race in a way that prompts action and meaningful change? That’s a central question posed in the 2013 documentary “I’m Not Racist…Am I?,” which follows 12 New York City teenagers from diverse racial and socioeconomic backgrounds as they go through a

A handful of bills to reform gerrymandering died February 12 in a seven-person House of Delegates subcommittee by voice vote. Delegate Steve Landes (R-25th) was one of those voting to kill the bills. “Our districts are not gerrymandered,” he said. “They’re approved by the Department of

Twelve years ago this week, firefighters found Nola Charles and her toddler son William dead inside their burning Crozet home. Someone had duct taped Charles to her bed before stabbing her and slitting her throat. Three-year-old William had died of smoke inhalation. Three teens were convicted

Mike Signer grew up in Arlington, but Charlottesville tugged on him from an early age. The 42-year-old Fifeville resident and father of two spent summers here as an elementary school student in the ’70s, taking enrichment courses at UVA. “I remember vividly falling in love with the city back

Republican Delegate Steve Landes has announced his plan to run for an 11th term. Landes represents Virginia’s 25th House district, which includes part of Albemarle County as well as localities in the Shenandoah Valley. “It has been an honor and privilege to serve the citizens of the 25th

A Missouri real estate investment trust, EPR Properties, has picked up Wintergreen Resort for an undisclosed price, it announced last week. Coal and resort baron Jim Justice, who bought Wintergreen for $16.5 million in June 2012, poured millions into infrastructure before putting the Nelson ski

Accused Hannah Graham-murderer Jesse Matthew, who was convicted of trespassing in 2010, inspired three bills in the General Assembly to add misdemeanors to the crimes for which DNA samples are collected. However, the versions that passed would not have prevented Matthew from crossing paths with

Last summer a phalanx of cop cars lined up at Psychic Readings by Catherine on U.S. 29 and closed one lane of traffic. The Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement led the June 14 search warrant execution, removed four cars, and left a lot of locals wondering what

Star guard Justin Anderson’s fractured finger did not stop Virginia from topping ninth-ranked Louisville 52-47 February 7, nor did it prevent Virginia from being ranked No. 2 in the country again this week. But what does it mean for the Cavaliers for the rest of the regular season, with

When Charlottesville City Manager Maurice Jones began the ceremony to mark the opening of the final segment of the John W. Warner Parkway and the intersection that ties the road to the city’s downtown last Thursday, February 5, he couldn’t help driving home just how long locals had been waiting

There was one big trending topic heading into this year’s state legislative session, thanks largely to events that unfolded in Charlottesville. The death of UVA second-year Hannah Graham, allegedly at the hands of a man who left two Virginia schools under suspicion of sexual assault, and the

White Hall resident Angela Lynn knows she’s got an uphill battle challenging Republican Delegate Steve Landes for the 25th District seat, which he’s held since 1996. Most of the district is in more conservative Augusta and Rockingham counties, with a chunk of western Albemarle thrown in. It was

Unregulated short-term lodging is a booming business in Charlottesville, but as more and more locals rent out rooms and houses to guests on sites like Airbnb, city officials are increasingly anxious to get rules on the books and find a way to make hosts pony up for required taxes and fees.